Uniqueness is one of the most important elements of an effective personal statement. The admission officers read hundreds or even thousands of essays. This is why you have to make your essay attention-grabbing. And how would you do that? Basically, you can grab the attention of the admission officers by making your essay very unique.
One of the best ways through which you can write a notable admission essay is by reading and studying examples of personal statements. You can use these examples of personal statements as guides when you write your own. But when you use these sample essays, there are some things that you have to keep in mind. Read on to know what are these things.
Do not copy the entire format
Analyzing the style and the format of personal statement samples is an excellent way to get ideas on how personal statements should be written. However, you have to be careful not to fall to the danger of imitating the format of the sample essays entirely. Your goal here is to be unique. And you could never achieve uniqueness by sounding like thousands of applicants before you. Just use the format of others as a guide. But make sure that you come up with your own format.
Use your own experience and cite your own strengths and weaknesses
The personal statement is about you — the you which could never be revealed by just your resume and tests results alone. Your personal statement is about the you who is a special individual. This is why when you write an admission essay, you have to talk about your own experiences, strengths, and even weaknesses. Yes, you should include even your weaknesses. By doing this, the admission committee would see you as a person who is unafraid of admitting his or her weaknesses.
Make your essay reflect the real you
Your admission essay should be about you. You have to make sure that your essay reflects the real you and not just project the ideal you. The most important thing is to be sincere in what you write; let others read it and listen to what they have to say. Remember that the admission committee had read thousands of essays before. For sure, they have a way of seeing through your lies.
Although it is best that you use examples of personal statements as guides, you have to remember that your essay is still about you. Therefore, thestyle and the content of the essay should reflect the real you.
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